Pseudo-science and society in 19th-century America /Arthur Wrobel, editor.

Contributor(s):

Wrobel, Arthur, 1940-

Material type: Text

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

9780813165035

Subject(s):

Genre/Form:

Electronic Books.

LOC classification:

R733 .P748 2015

Online resources:

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Available additional physical forms:

Contents:

Introduction / Arthur Wrobel-- -- Robert H. Collyer's Technology of the Soul / Taylor Stoehr-- -- "Nervous Disease" and Electric Medicine / John L. Greenway-- -- Hydropathy, or the Water-Cure / Marshall Scott Legan-- -- Andrew Jackson Davis and Spiritualism / Robert W. Delp-- -- Phrenology as Political Science / Arthur Wrobel-- -- Sexuality and the Pseudo-Sciences / Harold Aspiz-- -- Washington Irving and Homoeopathy / George Hendrick-- -- Sculpture and the Expressive Mechanism / Charles Thomas Walters-- -- Mesmerism and the Birth of Psychology / Robert C. Fuller-- -- Afterword / Arthur Wrobel.

Subject: "Progressive nineteenth-century Americans believed firmly that human perfection could be achieved with the aid of modern science. To many, the science of that turbulent age appeared to offer bright new answers to life's age-old questions. Such a climate, not surprisingly, fostered the growth of what we now view as "pseudo-sciences"--Disciplines delicately balancing a dubious inductive methodology with moral and spiritual concerns, disseminated with a combination of aggressive entrepreneurship and sheer entertainment. Such "sciences" as mesmerism, spiritualism, homoeopathy, hydropathy, and phrenology were warmly received not only by the uninformed and credulous but also by the respectable and educated. Rationalistic, egalitarian, and utilitarian, they struck familiar and reassuring chords in American ears and gave credence to the message of reformers that health and happiness are accessible to all. As the contributors to this volume show, the diffusion and practice of these pseudo-sciences intertwined with all the major medical, cultural, religious, and philosophical revolutions in nineteenth-century America. Hydropathy and particularly homoeopathy, for example, enjoyed sufficient respectability for a time to challenge orthodox medicine. The claims of mesmerists and spiritualists appeared to offer hope for a new moral social order. Daring flights of pseudo-scientific thought even ventured into such areas as art and human sexuality. And all the pseudo-sciences resonated with the communitarian and women's rights movements."--Publisher's description.

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Holdings
Item type	Current library	Collection	Call number	URL	Status	Date due	Barcode
Online Book (LOGIN USING YOUR MY CIU LOGIN AND PASSWORD)	G. Allen Fleece Library ONLINE	Non-fiction	R733 .78 (Browse shelf(Opens below))	Link to resource	Available		ocn900344653

Includes bibliographies and index.

"Progressive nineteenth-century Americans believed firmly that human perfection could be achieved with the aid of modern science. To many, the science of that turbulent age appeared to offer bright new answers to life's age-old questions. Such a climate, not surprisingly, fostered the growth of what we now view as "pseudo-sciences"--Disciplines delicately balancing a dubious inductive methodology with moral and spiritual concerns, disseminated with a combination of aggressive entrepreneurship and sheer entertainment. Such "sciences" as mesmerism, spiritualism, homoeopathy, hydropathy, and phrenology were warmly received not only by the uninformed and credulous but also by the respectable and educated. Rationalistic, egalitarian, and utilitarian, they struck familiar and reassuring chords in American ears and gave credence to the message of reformers that health and happiness are accessible to all. As the contributors to this volume show, the diffusion and practice of these pseudo-sciences intertwined with all the major medical, cultural, religious, and philosophical revolutions in nineteenth-century America. Hydropathy and particularly homoeopathy, for example, enjoyed sufficient respectability for a time to challenge orthodox medicine. The claims of mesmerists and spiritualists appeared to offer hope for a new moral social order. Daring flights of pseudo-scientific thought even ventured into such areas as art and human sexuality. And all the pseudo-sciences resonated with the communitarian and women's rights movements."--Publisher's description.

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